Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, commonly referred to as Pitchfork, is a Chicago-based online music magazine devoted to music journalism, news, album reviews, and feature stories. Founded in 1995 by Ryan Schreiber, who was working in a record store at the time, the magazine originally developed a reputation for its extensive focus on independent music, but it has since expanded with a variety of coverage on both indie and popular music artists.

The site generally concentrates on new music, but Pitchfork journalists have also reviewed reissued albums and box sets. The site has also published "best-of" lists – such as the best albums of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and the best songs of the 1960s – as well as annual features detailing the best albums and tracks of each year since 1999.

History

In late 1995, Ryan Schreiber, then just out of high school, created Pitchfork in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Influenced by local fanzines and college radio station KUOM, Schreiber, who had no previous writing experience, aimed to provide the Internet with a regularly updated resource for independent music. At first bearing the name Turntable, the site was originally updated monthly with interviews and reviews. In May 1996, the site began publishing daily, and was renamed "Pitchfork", a reference to Tony Montana's tattoo in the 1983 film Scarface.